Plants, both ornamental and seedlings later to be transplanted outside, are widely grown indoors. Such plants are commonly started in or transplanted to pots which are available in various sizes and shapes and which typically have a drain hole in their bottoms.
Regular and frequent watering of the plants is required to ensure proper growth and to maintain plant health. When water is applied to the surface of the soil in such a pot, particularly when the surface thereof is concealed by foliage, it is difficult to determine whether the soil has been moistened to a depth ensuring root development and nourishment.
It has long been recognized that it is advantageous to place a pot in water and permit the soil to absorb water through the hole in the bottom thereof, a procedure that is time consuming. As a consequence, it is the usual practice to employ a watering pot to apply water to the several plant-containing pots on a regular and frequent basis.
In order to lessen the frequency of such a watering procedure and in recognition of the drawbacks thereof, proposals have been made to combine such pots with a bottom receptacle dimensioned to contain a substantial volume of water. A wick extends from the reservoir into the dirt thus to deliver water thereto by capillary attraction.
As far as I am aware, such proposals have not been accepted and such self-watering systems that are used have wicks free in the flower pots and once embedded in the soil were not capable of ensuring that the moisture carried thereby was uniformly and effectively distributed.